Wednesday, March 22, 2017

What to do in Brunei (Bandar Seri Begawan)

Brunei is a tiny country at 5,765square kilometer. Having very limited time of 7hours to explore, we have to hustle. 

Upon arrival of our ship at the Muara Port, a friend is waiting who generously shared his van and (Filipino) driver  (free of charge) to tour us around. 

Our first stop is at the Royal Regalia Museum which was established to commemorate the 25th year anniversary ruling of the Sultan. It houses the grand chariot that was used by the Sultan when he parade after his acceptance of the crown. There are also massive collection of royal gifts that was given by the Dignitary visitors during their visit to the country. 
      (Outside the Royal Regalia)

    The grand Chariot

Next stop is the waterfront overlooking the water village. There is an optional boat ride to the other side of the water but we opt not to go because of the limited time.

Going through the tour, we passed by the Omar Ali Saufuddien mosque and take a fast photo stop just around the gates 


After the City mosque, we stopped at the  Istana Nurul Iman, the royal residence. We have the opportunity to take a photo at the gates of the property. 



At around 4pm, the tour is almost finished and our driver brought us to a local coffee/tea shop called Chop Jing Chew, it was one of the oldest bakery that offers superb bread and delicious hot tea. But since i dont drink hot tea, i asked for an ice and voila! Its like my favourite cold milk tea at home. 

The tour is not complete until we were done shopping. We were then brought to a local mall and i go directly to the grocery because i was told that they had a very cheap "fabric conditioner" and tasty noodles(like pancit canton). I was not disappointed, i found a 3litre fabric conditioner for only 125pesos and bought 2 pcs of it. Just enought for me to carry. Also bought some chocolates for my kids. 

There are some information that i found out unique in Brunei
1. Their gasoline only costs 18.50pesos and diesel 12.65 per liter
2. You can be a citizen of Brunei if you lived in the country for 15 years and you know how to pronounce the complete name of the Sultan. 
3. The sultans name is Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddie
4. At the wedding ceremony, (during the sultan's wedding) you can observe that the faces of the couple are sad. Why? because it is said that the sadder they were, the longer marriage they can have. 
5. The royal residence Istana Nurul Iman was designed by a Filipino named Leandro Locsin.









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